Over a decade ago, falling prices and improvements in electronic technology made it possible for airlines to offer individual flat panel displays to business class and first class customers on most international flights (see, U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,528). Further improvements in technology, coupled with the reduced price and wide availability of movies on video cassettes prompted the development of aftermarket video systems for vehicles. Typically, such systems consisted of a rectangular box with a 4–6″ cathode ray tube hard wired to a video cassette recorder. The box was designed to be secured to the backs of the driver and passenger seats and plug into the cigarette lighter to provide entertainment to rear seat passengers (see, U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,448).
These early transportable TV/VCR combinations were very successful despite the fact they initially sold for around a thousand dollars. Soon vehicles such as van conversions were offering built in systems and then auto manufacturers began to offer built in entertainment systems as a factory option on vehicles such as vans, mini-vans, and SUVs.
Most recently, flat panel displays have become readily available at a reasonable price. Such displays were first used by airplane manufacturers to provide every coach class passenger with an individual viewing screen embedded in the seat back of the preceding seat. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,297 which describes an LCD in an airline seatback. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,927 describes a transportable seatback entertainment system for an automobile. But this system can be relocated from side to side or mounted between the two front seats if there are two or more passengers in the back seat.
While the price of flat panel displays has been consistently decreasing, their cost is such that only high end vehicles are currently offered with a flat panel display in the back of the driver's and passenger's seat as found in couch section aircraft seats (see, U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,253). Instead, most vehicles with an entertainment system option use a flat panel display hinged or connected to the ceiling at one edge. Such screens are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,124,902; 6,181,387; and 6,292,236. By mounting the screen on the ceiling in the center of the field of view of the rear seat passengers, a single small screen can be used by a passenger on the left, or on the right, or by two or three passengers simultaneously.
Unfortunately, small screens yield small images that can be tiring to look for any period of time. This problem is exacerbated when the screen is centrally located. In addition, locating a screen on the ceiling necessitates a thick headliner, makes installation of a standard sunroof impossible, and puts the screen above eye level. Most of these difficulties are compounded if a larger screen is used.